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Belknap County staff propose renaming restorative justice office, add GPS monitoring contract
Summary
Program manager Trish reported caseloads and proposed renaming 'Restorative Justice' to 'Belknap County intensive supervision program' to house pretrial and diversion tracks; she also said the county signed a Sentinel GPS contract at $7.25 per day paid by the offender and that staff training is scheduled.
Trish, the department manager, told commissioners the office’s caseloads and finances as she proposed an umbrella name change and new electronic monitoring for some clients. She said the program budget is at about 81% utilization and noted a roughly $768 surplus that she does not expect to retain. Trish reported recent revenue of $990 over two months and summarized caseloads: 29 active adult diversion cases (16 males, 13 females), six juveniles (up from four), and 121 pretrial cases that transferred into the program (79 males, 42 females). She said 15 people are currently in treatment and the combined supervised client total is about 153.
"So I'm looking to call it, Belknap County intensive supervision program," Trish said, explaining the change would allow diversion, pretrial and future tracks to sit under a single name and make it easier for outside partners (courts, defenders) to find the right office. "It covers all of those tracks," she said, adding the office would keep separate mission statements for each track and would not remove existing track names such as pretrial or restorative justice.
Several commissioners expressed reservations about the proposed name as long and potentially confusing for the public. One commissioner said the name "sounds a bit cumbersome" and another urged condensing the title while retaining 'Belknap County.' Trish responded that the umbrella name provides room to grow without future renaming and makes it easier for external partners to contact the office.
On a related operational change, Trish said the county signed a contract with Sentinel for GPS monitoring, with the vendor supplying electronic bracelets and training. "It's gonna be $7.25 per day, the appliance on the program," Trish said, adding the vendor will train staff on setup, use and how to respond to alerts; some training will be virtual and some hands-on. She said the offender will be responsible for paying the daily device fee and that two staff members will receive training because they have not used the current equipment before.
Commissioners did not take an immediate formal vote on the renaming; they asked Trish to consider a shorter title and said they would take her recommendation under advisement at a later meeting.
